Turnout was low for
Senegal's controversial referendum on sweeping constitutional reforms on
Sunday, including cutting the presidential term from seven to five
years.
There were no queues and few voters visible in polling
stations in areas of the capital in the early morning. The situation was
much the same after midday.
No official turnout was immediately given after polls closed at 18:00GMT, but it was hovering around 25% in the afternoon.
"Voters
are trickling in," said an official in a polling station. A
spokesperson said: "Enthusiasm is not as high as during legislative or
presidential elections."
The first official results are expected later on Monday.
Leave office early
The
referendum caused controversy as President Macky Sall was elected in
2012 partly on a platform to reduce the presidential mandate from seven
years to five. Sall had said reducing his own mandate would set
an example within Africa, where many leaders cling to power beyond their
allotted term.
But Senegal's top court rejected his proposal in
February, triggering a referendum to allow the reforms to come into
force once Sall leaves office-- due in 2019 in the event of a "Yes"
vote.
Opposition parties and several civil society groups urged
Senegalese to vote "No", saying Sall reneged on his promise to leave
office early and criticising the referendum as a cop-out.
The
referendum has became a de facto Yes/No vote on Sall's popularity,
eclipsing more than a dozen other proposed points of reform to the
constitution.
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